Magda's Cauldron

There’s a moment every May when the strawberries finally taste like strawberries. Not the pale, cardboard ones that appear in March and make you wonder why you bothered. The real ones: small, deeply red and sweet. When I found them at a reasonable price last week, I didn’t think twice. I made a buttermilk cake.

It’s one of those recipes I come back to every year because it’s reliable in the best way. It’s soft, moist, springy, its only fault is that I eat too many slices. This time, I went a bit extra: almonds folded into the batter and crumble pressed on top. But the cake isn’t really the story here.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about friendship, specifically about how hard I find it to accept help. Someone does something for me, and immediately I’m calculating: what can I give back, how quickly, how to make it even. As if friendship were a bookkeeping.

I spent years in relationships that felt distant. No one needed anything. Polite, warm, but at a safe distance. I told myself I was being easy to be around. I was actually just afraid of being a burden.

The friends I made this cake for are different. They took me to a hospital when I broke my wrist this year. They fixed my car. They show up. And somehow they do it without making me feel like I owe them anything.

I’m still learning from them. Still catching myself mid-calculation. I still worry I’m not a good enough friend to them. That I take more than I give. But they keep showing up anyway.

So I bake. Not as payback. As a way of saying “— I see you, and I’m glad you’re in my life”. The first strawberries of the season felt like the right occasion.

The recipe is below. Make it for someone who makes it easy to accept help.

Strawberry buttermilk & almond cake

• Servings: Makes 23x23cm (9×9 inches) pan
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 45 min
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Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 250 g caster sugar
• 300 ml buttermilk
• 150 ml vegetable oil
• 350 g all-purpose flour
• 100 g almond flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• a few drops of almond extract or zest of 1 lemon or zest of 1/2 orange
• 400 g strawberries, halved

Crumble

• 70g butter, cold and cubed
• 100 g all-purpose flour
• 50 g sugar
• 1 Tbsp vanilla sugar

Directions

1. In a small bowl, rub the cold butter, flour, and sugars together with your fingertips until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Set aside in the fridge.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and lemon zest (if using) together in a bowl.
3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together until pale and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes).
4. While the mixer is on low speed, slowly drizzle in the oil and almond extract.
5. Stir in the ground almonds.
6. To keep the cake light, add the flour mixture and the buttermilk in stages: Add 1/3 of the yogurt, mix briefly. Repeat until finished, ending with the flour.
7. Stop mixing as soon as the white streaks of flour disappear. Over-mixing will make the cake tough.
8. Pour the batter into a tin lined with parchment paper.
9. Arrange the strawberries on top.
10. Sprinkle the crumble topping generously over the fruit.
11. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 45–50 minutes, or until a wooden skewer comes out clean. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Bea w kuchni